2/17/2019 12:20 AM PST

EXCLUSIVE

Ex-NFL star Larry Johnson is sick of watching young players like Kareem Hunt make the same STUPID mistakes he made as a player ... and wishes they'd "get their heads out of their asses" and reach out for help.

"I hope these guys will start realizing that there's nothing you've done that other players haven't done already," the former K.C. Chiefs running back told us.

Of course, Johnson was a STUD in his prime -- but, his NFL career was marred by off-the-field issues ... including violent incidents with a woman.

2/11/2019 11:04 AM PST

The Cleveland Browns have announced they've signed Kareem Hunt -- the former Chiefs star who was cut after TMZ Sports posted a video showing him getting violent with a woman in a Cleveland hotel.

Browns general manager John Dorsey announced the signing today -- a reported 1-year deal -- saying there were two important factors to signing the RB:

"One is that Kareem took full responsibility for his egregious actions and showed true remorse and secondly, just as importantly, he is undergoing and is committed to necessary professional treatment and a plan that has been clearly laid out."

For his part, Hunt has issued a new statement saying, "First off, I would like to once again apologize for my actions last year. What I did was wrong and inexcusable."

"That is not the man I was raised to be, and I’ve learned a great deal from that experience and certainly should have been more truthful about it after the fact."

"I’m extremely grateful that John Dorsey, Dee and Jimmy Haslam and the Cleveland Browns organization are granting me the opportunity to earn their trust and represent their organization in the best way possible on and off the field."

"I am committed to following the necessary steps to learn and to be a better and healthier person from this situation. I also understand the expectations that the Browns have clearly laid out and that I have to earn my way back to the NFL."

"I’m a work in progress as a person, but I’m committed to taking advantage of the support systems that I have in place to become the best and healthier version of myself."

The Browns are pretty solid in the running back position after a strong rookie year from starter Nick Chubb. It'll be interesting to see how Hunt fits into the offensive plans.

John Dorsey acknowledges the Hunt signing is controversial -- and says the team thought long and hard before signing him.

"We fully understand and respect the complexity of questions and issues in signing a player with Kareem’s history and do not condone his actions," Dorsey said.

"Given what we know about Kareem through our extensive research, we believe he deserves a second chance but certainly with the understanding that he has to go through critical and essential steps to become a performing member of this organization, aside from what the NFL determines from their ongoing investigation."

At this point, the NFL still has not decided on a punishment for Hunt -- he could face a serious suspension.

2/11/2019 12:05 AM PST

Sometimes it's GOOD to defy your parents -- just ask Patrick Mahomes Sr. who says he REALLY tried to get his son to give up football back in the day to pursue other sports.

THANK GOD HE DIDN'T LISTEN!!!

Pat Mahomes Sr. made the shocking revelation to us ... saying he was convinced Pat had a better shot at going pro in baseball and basketball -- especially since the Univ. of Texas was recruiting him to play DEFENSE!!

"They were recruiting him as a safety. And, I was telling him, 'Why don't we quit this and let's just concentrate on the other two?'"

"I said, 'We're just wasting time with this football thing.'"

Pat's suggestion wasn't exactly misguided ... the elder Mahomes was an MLB pitcher for more than a decade -- and says his son showed clear talent to be a future pro in BOTH baseball and hoops.

But, the QB didn't listen to Sr. ... and said, "Dad, I want to be out there with my teammates. I want to be out there with the guys I've been playing with forever."

Turned out to be a pretty good decision ... Mahomes starred at Texas Tech -- and is the best young quarterback in the NFL right now.

BUT ... it does make ya wonder -- what IF Mahomes had decided to step off the gridiron and focus solely on the other two sports??

Something tells us we'd be seein' a whole lot of this in the NBA right now ...

"Andy Reid said it best in the meeting room the day after the game," Kelce tells us at the EA Sports Madden Bowl event in Atlanta.

"He said, 'You know what, Dee Ford was four inches to a foot offsides. Everybody on that team could have been four inches -- including coaches -- coulda been four inches to a foot better that game, for 60 minutes, and the outcome could've been different.'"

The play will go down in Kansas City sports lore forever -- Charvarius Ward picked off Tom Brady while up 28-24 with 54 seconds left to play in the game.

But, Ford lined up offsides ... the play was called back ... and the rest is now history.

Kelce tells us there are no hard feelings whatsoever toward Ford for the play ... and Kansas City players don't even joke with the guy about the miscue.

1/20/2019 11:32 AM PST

Drake has finally realized that if he sides with any one sports team, they'll probably lose -- so he's sending the final 4 NFL squads good vibes by equally cursing all of them.

We're kidding, of course ... and clearly, so is Drizzy. He posted a photo of himself late Saturday night wearing a sweater with patches bearing all four remaining NFL teams --the L.A. Rams, the New England Patriots, the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints.

He captioned his pic ... "For everyone who believes in the Drake curse good luck tmrw."

In case you're unfamiliar ... Drake has a pretty bad streak of supporting teams ... and those teams being doomed with losing records or big losses in general (just ask the University of Alabama's football team, they're his latest victim).

1/15/2019 8:30 AM PST

"I think there were measures -- I could've did more about being on the team this year, but I'm happy for those guys."

Hali is a legend in K.C. ... having played the last 12 seasons there and racking up 89.5 sacks -- but he retired after last season having never gotten further than the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

That's why we at TMZ Sports wondered if there was at least SOME regret that he decided to call it a career just before Patrick Mahomes got the Chiefs on an epic run this season.

But, 35-year-old Tamba says while it is "bittersweet," he's at peace with the decision.

"I think the way coach [Andy] Reid treated me was great. He kind of saved me, because I played the game wreckless. I probably would've been on the other side -- would've wrecked my body."

"So, I'm happy, yet it is bittersweet."

As for the Chiefs' AFC Championship Game against the Pats this weekend ... Hali says he's giving the edge to Mahomes over Tom Brady in the big matchup, and ya gotta hear why.

12/10/2018 7:03 AM PST

Kansas City Chiefs owner, Clark Hunt﻿, says the team knew Kareem Hunt was involved in 3 violent incidents BEFORE they cut him ... but says the TMZ Sports video took things to another level.

Clark Hunt finally broke his silence about Kareem to the media after the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday ... saying, "We were obviously shocked by the video, like anybody who saw it."

He added, "We’d had some issues with Kareem not being truthful with what happened that night and we just really felt for everybody’s best interests we needed to head in a different direction."

As we previously reported, Kareem has been accused of getting violent on 3 separate occasions during the NFL offseason -- allegedly attacking a man at a nightclub in January, the hotel incident in February and another altercation at an Ohio resort in June.

"We did know about [those incidents], yes," Clark Hunt said ... "We were familiar with all 3 of the incidents that he had had in the offseason ... They’d all been reported to the NFL, and the NFL was investigating them."

During the media scrum in the Chiefs' locker room, Clark Hunt was also asked about the NFL's investigation into Kareem Hunt ... and how the league could do a better job handling similar investigations in the future.

"I’m not sure I’m at a point right now where I can say there was a breakdown and specifically what that breakdown was. The league has spent a lot of time and resources trying to build a department that can handle these types of situations."

"Obviously, it’s imperfect. I’m not sure you can ever reach perfection. There are limitations on the type of information that league security people are able to get, and I’m not sure that we can change that."

Clark Hunt was also asked if Chiefs' draft scouts ever saw any red flags when it came to Hunt's off-the-field actions before they took him in the 3rd round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

"Our staff felt comfortable with taking him, otherwise we would not have selected him," Hunt said.

"Our scouting staff does a really good job of vetting players. And part of that analysis is their character. Obviously, it’s very hard to learn everything about somebody. Sometimes you have somebody who in college didn’t have any incidents and they get to the pro level and with the fame and fortune and so forth that comes with the position, they do something that you don’t expect."

"So, we’re certainly going to try to get better, but I don’t think you can ever be perfect in that regard."

Despite leaving on bad terms, Clark Hunt says the organization is still rooting for Kareem to better himself.

"I think the most important thing for Kareem is that he get some counseling that can help him with his issues ... and I heard today that there was a report that he was going to do that, and certainly we wish the best for Kareem in the future. I hope that at some point he’s able to come back to the National Football League, not sure when that will be."

"But, our message to him was that even though we’re having to part ways with you today, we’re still supportive of you. And, if you need us to get you some help off the field, we’re willing to do that."

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